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Valencia withstand Fenerbahce's fourth-quarter comeback to secure an 86-78 victory and move into second place in the EuroLeague standings.
Valencia Basket held off a late comeback from Fenerbahce Tarfin to claim an 86-78 home victory in Round 8 of the EuroLeague, Europe's leading club basketball competition, on Tuesday.
The Spanish side led by as many as 16 points before Fenerbahce overturned the deficit to take their first lead with two and a half minutes remaining. However, Valencia responded in the closing stages to secure their sixth win of the season.
Both teams finished the night with identical 6-2 records, but Valencia moved into second place in the standings, leaving Fenerbahce third.
Valencia took control from the opening minutes, racing to an 8-0 lead as Fenerbahce struggled to find its offensive rhythm and secure defensive rebounds.
The hosts finished the first quarter 19-9 ahead and stretched their advantage to 33-18 during the second period before heading into halftime with an 11-point cushion at 36-25.
Although Fenerbahce tightened up defensively in the third quarter and reduced the gap to nine points, Valencia answered with seven consecutive points to enter the final period leading 60-46.
Fenerbahce turned the game around in the fourth quarter, stepping up its offense and cutting Valencia's advantage to 72-69 with four and a half minutes remaining.
The Turkish side continued to close in, hitting its fifth three-pointer of the quarter to make it 75-74 before moving ahead 76-75 with 2:30 left on the clock.
However, Valencia regained the initiative in the final minutes, with Armoni Brooks delivering a crucial three-pointer to put the hosts ahead 82-78 with just over a minute remaining.
Valencia eventually closed out the game 86-78 despite Fenerbahce scoring 32 points in the fourth quarter, surpassing its entire first-half total of 25.
TJ Shorts led Valencia with a game-high 23 points, while Kameron Taylor and Brooks added 16 each. For Fenerbahce, Wade Baldwin scored 19 points, followed by Shavon Shields with 18 and Will Clyburn with 15.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Paris Basketball defeated Dubai Basketball 99-93, while Barcelona secured an 88-84 away victory against Bayern Munich.
Crvena Zvezda beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 100-78, and Panathinaikos overcame Olimpia Milan 80-75.
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